The Feeder and Raptor Discussion Continues

A local Black-capped Chickadee, Puecile atricapilla, sustained by sunflower seeds from the feeder, hits the bath.

Betty Jo of Camarillo, a long time blog contributor, sent along her opinion about bird feeders and the Raptors that sometimes frequent them to catch lunch.

Hi Donna,

I think your hypothesis is probably correct regarding bird feeders.

For years I subscribed to the theory that birds didn't need it and indeed it was not the correct thing to do. Then a friend brought over a bag of wild bird seed and--well--that led to about an expensive addiction! Jay peanuts, gathering acorns from the city sidewalks for the jays, black oil for the finches and niger in socks for the Goldfinches--and of course the hummingbird feeders. Luckily, I do not have to contend with squirrels as some of my bird feeding friends do.

This is now my thought on feeding birds--we have virtually destroyed their world (where I live, anyway) so I plan to help the hardy survivors in any way I can. And yes I do have the occasional Sharpie and Coopers come over for lunch--far better in my opinion to be eaten by a natural predator than to be killed by an outside cat--who doesn't even eat you--or to be smacked by a window glass which you think is air--or have your nest destroyed by an out of season tree trimmer.

Betty Jo in Camarillo

Crow Migrants, John Blakeman Responds, and NYC Pigeons

One of the sentinels for a flock of 23 American Crows that arrived three days ago and have stayed on for food, rest, and recreation.


It's rainy and cold today. Therefore the park was deserted when it came to humans so the Crows took up day long residence on the far side away from any houses. If there were any gulls who thought about a worm snack, they had to go forage someplace else.

Originally the Crow with her head down was standing alone with cocked head watching something in the grass. The Crow on the right did a medium rapid Crow skip, skip--skip, skip to her side and looked at whatever it was she was looking at, looked at her, and then passed on. Only to be replaced in position by the third Crow. I noticed no one tried to take the tidbit away from her though very interested in it.

They took turns perching and foraging but eventually most returned to the trees and chatted.

And now to John's Blakeman's response to my thought during the conversation on Cooper's hawks moving to the city and predating feeders, that because of current farm and home vegetation practices, if there were no feeders we'd have very few winter birds and and even fewer raptors.

Donna,

Yes, modern agricultural practices have created giant biological deserts, absent hedgerows, weedy corners, or other small patches of wildlife habitat.

Here in Ohio (and I'm sure in Wisconsin, too), farmers no longer have to spend hours on their tractors slowly cultivating rows of corn or soybeans with mechanical weeders. Round-up Ready crops have allowed farmers to plant once in May, spray once in June or July, and then harvest in October. The Round-up and other modern herbicides have simply eliminated weed tilling, so in the summer farmers have hundreds of unused hours. On many farms, especially here in Ohio, there are no longer any animals. The entire operation is row-crops.

So, farmers now have rather large John Deere riding lawn mowers and instead of just mowing the lawn around the farm house, they now feel compelled to spend hours mowing up and down the roadsides. Where roadsides once were mowed infrequently by the highway department, today, they look like long stretches of a golf course fairway. For many farmers, modern life is threatened by "weeds," any unplanted vegetation taller then 4 inches, Round-up and other herbicides not withstanding.

And no mice, voles, shrews, butterflies, dragonflies, or other wild creature can live in these biological deserts. Nothing other than corn or soybeans lives out in the fields, and now, nothing lives in the ditches and on the roadsides. Biological deserts, by any definition.

Don't worry about Pale Male and his New York cohorts lacking for pigeons. I just read that a "pigeon czar" is being selected, a person who will have the authority to enforce no-feeding laws with $!000 fines or so. There will be sufficient pigeons in Central Park, no matter what. And it appears the NYC red-tails could persist almost exclusively on rats, were that required.

--John Blakeman

Grass all the way to the horizon and not a seed to be had except that found in the feeder.

John,

As to worrying about Pale Male and company getting enough to eat without a hefty pigeon population, I do worry. According to my count, the Red-tails diet in Central Park consists of 83% pigeon. (The Divine Hawks up at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine tend to a somewhat higher ratio of rat.) Yes, the hawks could hunt more rats but that makes us all cringe because the chance of their being poisoned by rat bait rises greatly.

During breeding season when pigeon meals usually arrive at the nest at a steady rate during the day, the only rats that tend to be available before dusk are the sick or poisoned ones.

Beyond the Red-tails, I worry about the pigeons themselves. They are very smart, city savvy, friendly, and special birds. Without them I'd never see a bird from my apartment window, not one. There are absolutely no green spaces near where I live. Pigeons don't need them.

Besides targeting an entire species to be eradicated by starvation as they are human dependent is never acceptable. And if the pigeons aren't fed, neither will be the migrant native birds that share in those feedings.

Twenty years ago, every village and farm in Wisconsin had a small flock of pigeons. Between poisoning them in the towns, and the disappearance of food in the country, I've seen six pigeons in the entire time I've been here. I'll bet if the pigeons were still around the Red-tail that stopped in the other day wouldn't have been wasting his time scoping out the little native birds at the feeder. I do worry about there being enough Pigeons in Central Park.

What can I say? I don't see pigeons as any problem whatsoever though the huge flocks of Starlings out here do have me very worried. They're the only birds I tend to see in the countryside besides Raptors.

Speaking of pigeons, Master-Link-Man Bill Walters sent in an article from The New York Times today speaking on just this matter.


NEW YORK REGION November 17, 2007

Pigeon-Rights Groups Rush to Defend Their Feathered Friends

By PETER DUFFY

About a dozen of New York’s leading pigeon advocates met recently to plan a response to a proposal that would make feeding pigeons illegal.

WHIRL!

By the way, The Cooper's Hawk was back today. There was only one feeding session at my feeder by the flock and then the birds disappeared. I assume to one of the neighbor's feeders. A few hours later, when hearing Crows call, I looked out. There was the Coop flapping zigzags through the air and trees in the yard in hot pursuit of, I think, a House Sparrow. They then disappeared over a roof and though I tried I didn't spot them again.

Donegal Browne

What About Nuthatches? Plus the Melon and Dove Updates.

This Red-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta canadensis, has been around for some time but I'd not gotten a photograph of him. For ID note the black line that runs through the eye, white line above and a rusty anterior. But today, when I dumped the chunk of ice out of the bowl and put in liquid water. The bowl then had more than 60 visits from numerous species in the first half hour and so I was able to photograph him. The birds were thirsty.

SO NOW---
The Bird Water Public Service Message: Supplying liquid water to wildlife is important in freezing weather. (Besides you'll see many more species of birds that way. Particularly if there is a shortage of drinkable water nearby.)

Yes, birds can conceivably get their own water.

They can fly a distance to find open water. Which is no doubt further away than it used to be because we've drained so many wetlands.

Little birds can wait for a Blue Jay to rap a crack in the ice if there is liquid underneath. I'm assuming the wait is longer these days with the dearth of Blue Jays.

They can eat snow when there is some. But they have to eat a good deal of snow in order to get enough moisture and it chills them.

So make it easier for everyone and get a bath warmer or just be sure to make the liquid form available everyday.

And now back to Nuthatches.

As I was saying this Red-breasted Nuthatch has been around for some months. I've been hearing his squeaky-toy call most days in the back yard. Though I didn't see or hear him during breeding season.

They like to winter in conifers and the yard has several. As far as I know though there aren't any breeding cavities within the yard so that rather explains that.

I'd thought it interesting that though the White-breasted Nuthatch is more numerous I hadn't seen one here. That was until I made fresh water available today---

And there he was, a White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis, sitting on the edge of the bowl seeking a drink. Nuthatches have always reminded me of chunky woodpeckers. But as it turns out they aren't closely related at all. They've seemingly evolved somewhat similar characteristics through separate lines, to suit their similar foraging styles. Nuthatches go both up and headfirst down trees while the Woodpeckers only go up headfirst.

All Nuthatches have a slight up angle to their beak position. Somewhat like the angle on a swordfish, which they aren't closely related to either. In fact Nuthatches don't vary all that much anywhere. All North American species are in the same genus. In fact 24 of the family's 25 species worldwide are in the same genus-- Sitta.

So to ID this species, you'll note in the White-breasted's case there is no black line through the eye. He's larger than the Red. His little black eye looks smaller than the Red-breasted's and his undertail coverts are chestnut. Go ahead, take a peek under his tail.

Yes, this is a male. NO, no, there is no obvious difference in genitalia. In fact you can't see any genitalia at all. You were looking for the chestnut area for possible help in identifying one someday, remember? Just in case the only view you have is under his tail. Right.

Now if the bird were female, she would have a grey cap as opposed to the black one, and her back would have more of a grey cast to it as well.

Terrific you say, but how about getting to the important part? Just why are these birds called Nuthatches?

I've always wondered that myself and I finally got around to looking it up. Though I've read it in several places the commonly held answer is a little, well, possibly a little bit of a stretch.

Nuthatches stash food. Specifically they jam hard food like sunflower seeds and nuts into bark crevices.

They stash nuts so that's the first part of the name. I can go for that.

Now things get a little dicey in my opinion. Nuthatches store food by hacking (hatching) or we would say jamming nuts into the crevices in bark. But if we said jamming, they'd be Nutjams and that just wouldn't do. Think of all the field guides that would need to be reprinted.

In fact one species of Nuthatch uses tools. The Brown-headed Nuthatch holds a little piece of bark in his beak to pry off other sections of bark in order to get at the invertebrates underneath.

Getting on now, I'm told that Nuthatches don't usually migrate but White-breasted Nuthatches may, in poor food years. When this occurs it's called an irruption and it seems to happen not all that infrequently. Sometimes Whites make it as far down as Texas. So is this one a migrant? That could be why I hadn't seen him around before.

By the way speaking of irruptions, I hear from folks in Minnesota that the Owls are coming down again in a major way as they did the year the Boreal Owl showed up in Central Park. So keep your eyes peeled. It could be a very good year for owls.

AND NOW FOR THE UPDATES: First off, remember in Battle of the Bath 3 when Mr. Junco was attempting to bathe and was double teamed by the two above who drove him out of the bath. They tried double bombing in again today but he ignored them this time and now they are standing there trying to figure out just what could have gone wrong.

Secondly, why do a Goldfinch and House Finch hang out together all the time? I don't know, but they seem to be best friends. And their goal in life is to hassle Mr. Junco at the bird bath. A finch winter sport?

Ah ha, that's it! If the birds had to go further for a drink they'd be tired and they
wouldn't need winter sports and Mr Junco could bathe in peace. Or not.

Here's part of the flock and you'll note the two Mourning Doves up near the grass. No that's not a third dove up there. That's a chewed gourd.

There is a third though. Doorstep was sitting below the step by the door out of frame. I figure if it gets just a touch colder that she'll be back up on the doorstep getting some warmth through the crack under the door. The doves are coming back after their fright, though they haven't congregated on the bowl at sunset for a couple of days now. Probably for the best considering.


And remember how I was going to see if Fluffy the Possum came back for a second helping of squishy melon? Well, I suspected that a diurnal animal might take a shot at the melon so I got up slightly before dawn to check it. Fluffy hadn't been there. But a bit later in the day, a squirrel destroyed the study specimen. That's nature for you. The variables are everywhere.


Donegal Browne